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Zoë Knows: Caring for your Aging Cat

We are thrilled to introduce a new series on the VOKRA Blog — Zoë Knows!

Zoë is 11 years old and loves cats. She loves learning about cats and how best to take care of them and has agreed to share her knowledge with us as she learns. When she’s not hanging out with her two cats Libra (age 4) and Spooky (age 14), Zoë likes to read, draw, cook, and swim at the beach. We hope you enjoy Zoë’s first blog post. Over to you, Zoë!

Zoë and Libra

Taking care of your cat is hard work, and this task can become much more difficult as your cat ages. But I find that these tips really help me with my old cat.

1. Take your cat to the vet

As your cat ages, they can develop many injuries or diseases. So taking your cat for check ups is an important way to keep your cat healthy. For example, we took my cat (who is 15 this September) to the vet. We found out that he had Kidney Disease and Arthritis. After that we knew the requirements to keep him healthy and realized that we had been doing some things wrong. But don’t worry, you don’t have to take your cat that much.

2. “Home Check-ups”

If you know that your cat might be developing something, it’s a good idea to know the symptoms. That way you could do “home check-ups”. That’s when you just make sure your cat is healthy by doing small things that a vet might do. That way, if you think your cat is sick, you can take action immediately, instead of it being last minute.

3. Food

Food is very important. Make sure that you feed your cat food specified for old cats, or a type of sickness that you’re cat has. If you have two cats, it’s important to feed them separately. My youngest cat (4 years old) is overweight, so we feed her special food, but my other cat is a bit sick, and too skinny, so we feed him special food. But we have to monitor them so they don’t steal each other’s food.

4. Attention

Although this may seem greedy, your cat wants attention. Don’t focus completely on your new kitten, give both cats attention. Cats love their owners and want their owners to love them too. Make sure to treat your cat the same way you did when your cat was an adorable kitten.

5. Normal Needs…That you need to do

Normal needs suddenly become very important. Cleaning the litter (cats are very stubborn so they may not want to use the litter box unless it’s very clean), grooming (cats become less flexible as they age and might not feel like cleaning themselves and might need help), or even feeding schedules (I find it helps so my cats know when they have food). Also, peace and quiet! Give your cat attention, but don’t overwhelm her. Try to keep your cat active, but don’t push her too far.

As I said before, taking care of your aging cat is hard work, but in the end, it’s all worth it. These steps aren’t that hard, and they will keep your cat happy and healthy.